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Roasted Garlic and Beet Crema - a delicious sauce/salad dressing/dip with a beautiful bright pink color.

Roasted Garlic and Beet Crema

Roasted Garlic and Beet Crema embraces the flavors of rich roasted garlic and fresh dill, mellowed out by the earthy roasted beet in a creamy sauce.
Course Appetizer
Cuisine American
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients

For the Ranch Dressing:

  • 1/2 cup Mayonnaise
  • 1/2 cup Sour Cream
  • 1/2 cup Plain Greek Yogurt
  • 1/3 cup Buttermilk
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh Italian Flat Leaf Parsley
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh Chives
  • 1 tablespoon dried Dill more if you love dill
  • 2 cloves of Garlic
  • 1/2 teaspoon Onion Powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon Sea Salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon Black Pepper

For the Roasted Beet Crema:

  • 1/2 cup Ranch Dressing
  • 1 clove of Garlic
  • 1/2 a medium Beet roasted
  • 1/4 cup Sour Cream
  • 1/4 cup Heavy Cream

Instructions

  1. You can either buy peeled and steamed beets at Trader Joes (this is an amazing time saver) or you can roast the beet yourself. If you are roasting the beets yourself, do this first. Slice the leaves off the beet, and then slice the beet in half. Place the beet on aluminum foil drizzle olive oil over the top, and then wrap it up in the foil. Place in the oven to roast for 40-50 minutes, until soft.
  2. Then, roast the garlic. Cut the root end off the garlic, exposing the cloves of garlic. Place in the center of two layers of aluminum foil, and drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil over. Fold the foil up around the garlic, and place it in the oven at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Then remove from the oven and let cool.
  3. Next, prepare the ranch dressing. Run the garlic through a garlic press. Then place it in a bowl, and mash it with a fork to really break it up. You don't want the dressing to have chunky garlic. Then add the all of the remaining ingredients and whisk.
  4. To prepare the roasted garlic and beet crema, combine 1/2 cup of the ranch dressing, the roasted garlic, beet, sour cream, and heavy cream in a blender. You can add additional buttermilk to thin the crema if necessary. I did find that a blender was more effective than a food processor for this task.
  5. You can store the roasted garlic and beet crema and the ranch dressing in the fridge for 5-7 days.

Recipe Notes

My primary reason for making this Roasted Garlic and Beet Crema was for the Brussels Sprout Nachos (recipe coming your way on Wednesday), the crema would be a wonderful addition to tacos or a salad. It can also be used as a dipping sauce for fried cheese curds, tater tots, chicken tenders, or vegetables. The crema does thicken as it sits. You can add buttermilk or cream to thin out the crema as necessary. Or you can keep it thick and serve the crema as a dip.